There is a lot being said right now about gender dysphoria, transgenderism, and the usage of personal pronouns to affirm a person’s individual gender identity. In this article I cite several studies to prove a few very important things: Language has a massive influence on the way that we see the world, that altering how we speak, even in small grammatical ways, has a huge impact on our consciousness itself, that the repetition of information over time changes the way we think and convinces us that what we are saying or hearing is true, and that ideas spread like virus, co-opting what we believe and how we live and changing them to turn us into ideological spreaders. I then put it all together to argue that the usage of preferred pronouns takes advantages of all these facts and act like a viral vector to infect us with the beliefs and ideals of transgenderism. The ultimate culmination of this is a form of reality control where what we believe is re-written by the things we hear repeatedly until we win the victory over ourselves and adopt the ideas in question as our own – in this case transgenderism. Finally, I discuss how we can resist this process and why liberty is so essential in establishing a society where all people can live as they believe.
Tag: Isaiah
Nonviolence in Early Christianity, Part 3
In the Fourth Century we continue to see the doctrine of Christ that teaches us to abandon all violence and war is carried forward as Christian leaders continue to preach against paganism and prove the superiority of Christianity through its embrace of nonviolence. Martin of Tours provides a marvelous example of exactly what a Christian should do if ever he (or she) is forced into military service. Athanasius teaches that the way you can tell the difference between a true Christian and an idolater is how they approach violence and war, accurately pointing out the true source of all ideologies that promote contention and conflict. Likewise, the great Christian orator John Chrysostom draws the dividing line between Christian sheep and the savage wolves of the world. And no less than the Council of Nicaea and the Christian manual The Testament of Our Lord both outline the exact punishments to be levied against Christians who engage in military violence or who willfully join the military. Along the way the Latter-day Saint can find direct relationships between the teachings of these ancient Christians and the modern teachings of our church.
Confronting and Correcting Word of Wisdom Myths
Lately, I have been thinking more often about the Word of Wisdom and common errors we Latter-day Saints make in our understanding of it. Too often I’ve heard people call it the “Lord’s Law of Health,” express distress that people can drink coffee but not soda, and suggest it is about not becoming addicted to stuff like caffeine or tobacco. While all of these have some kernel of truth to them, they are all fundamental misunderstandings of what the Word of Wisdom is and what its function in Latter-day Saint lives and society is supposed to be. And because we misunderstand the Word of Wisdom it often leads us to incorrect conclusions about how we should live it, mistakes which can even degrade our faith. Here I address these issues and seek to explain why thinking of the Word of Wisdom as a Law of Health is to misunderstand what it is, the blessings promised by it, and its role in Latter-day Saint lives and community. Once properly understood common misunderstandings of it, such as it forbids caffeine, and seeming contradictions, such as not drinking coffee because it is unhealthy but being fine with drinking energy drinks, are cleared up. Hopefully this helps Latter-day Saints better understand the Word of Wisdom, live it as God has commanded, and enjoy the blessing from doing so in their lives.
An Apostle Explains The End of the World
This is quite possibly one of my favorite things I’ve ever read. Herein is reproduced a letter written by one of the church’s most influential thinkers and theologians, Apostle Parley P. Pratt. The letter was sent by Elder Pratt to Queen Victoria, the Queen of England, during his first mission to Great Britain. In it, Elder Pratt does something that I absolutely adore. Instead of fawning over Victoria or her court, hoping to make some favorable impression for himself or the church as you would imagine many people then and now would, Elder Pratt, while being courteous and humble, goes for the jugular of the Empire itself. Using the scriptures he lays out the coming judgments of God against the kingdoms of the world, the events of the Last Days before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the revolutionary the establishment of the Kingdom of God through the Restoration, and calls upon the leaders of the state to repent of their wickedness, denounce their greed and power, and to lead their nation in mass repentance before they are overthrown by the power of God. For this alone it is worth reading. Throw in his clear explanation of many of the signs of the Last Days and it is without a doubt that all who read it will profit from it.